Thursday, April 2, 2015

As we approach Resurrection Sunday, I have been pondering
the work that Christ did in coming to the earth, dying for each of us, and
rising from the dead.

In all of it, so
many wanted Him to take a place of position.People wanted Him to take a crown as a sitting king. But Christ chose a path meant to restore relationship, not
to assume a position in man’s eyes.

Christ was fully human and fully God all at once.My mind can’t even comprehend that – but in
that, how many times must He have been tempted to take the position that so
many wanted him to take.In being fully
God He had the ability, He had the power.People wanted Him to take the kingship of Israel, to show the world who
He really was.As humans, don’t we want
to be proven right?Don’t we want to be
approved and placed in positions of authority?Don’t we want others to view us as right and good and successful?

Yet Christ knew the route He was taking would cause others
to view Him as a failure.In man’s eyes,
not only would He not be put in an earthly place of authority, but He would
be treated as the lowest of the low and looked upon with scorn and
disappointment.

Christ had a goal that we didn’t see.He had a goal of restored relationship.In reality, that’s what salvation is – it restores
us to a place of right-standing with God.The work of Christ restored us to a place where we can have a personal
relationship with God.THE GOD, THE ONE
AND ONLY.Christ didn’t come to show us
in human terms how powerful He is, He came to bring us back to a place of
relationship.

His view was on a higher plane.He knew there was a spiritual component that
we didn’t realize.He knew that in
taking what looked to be the dishonorable route, He was really placing himself
to win the ultimate prize.

Not only did He win the victory over death, but he made a
way for He and I – you and God– to have an intimate relationship.

All of this made me think about my choices. Am I choosing Him? Am I making choices that place relationships
ahead of position?Am I making choices
that view relationship as the utmost of importance?Christ did.Restoring us to right relationship was his ultimate goal, and He
sacrificed all to win that.

Relationship is that important to Him.If I am His– if you are His – are we putting
relationship in its rightful place?Relationship
with Him?Relationship with each other?

Those are my thoughts this Easter season. It's introspective and there is no set answer. Each of us has to do our own evaluation. I can't evaluate you and you can't evaluate me. I can't evaluate my spouse, and he can't evaluate me. It's about our heart's focus. I would encourage you to think over those things as you go into this Easter weekend.